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Heed Wisdom

22 How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? ~ Proverbs 1:22

As Wisdom glides along the crowded streets, she desperately warns the people. She cups her hands and yells, “The return of Christ is at hand, get yourself ready and get your house in order, for now is the time of salvation.” But no one even notices. No heads are turned. No eyes are shifted in her direction. No conversations are broken. Life goes on pretty much the same as always. There is no change.

Yet, she continues her heralding.

“Prophecies foretold in Scripture are coming to pass. Therefore, seek and you will find. Call upon Him while He is near. Do not wait. Do not hesitate, for His return is nigh at hand.”

But no one even notices her as she glides by. So, she changes her strategy and cries out again:

“There are more and more scientists coming out stating that studies show that wireless and Bluetooth products are causing an increase in brain cancer, and radiation can cause health issues.”

But still, no one pays attention or even halfway listens. Then, Wisdom screams at the top of her lungs,

“At least look into the matter. At least check out the facts. Do a little homework for yourself and do not rely on the opinions of those who stand to profit off of you and call it philanthropy.”

But again, no one pays attention or even looks up from their leisurely conversations. This is our reality today. We are being lulled asleep by the distractions of this world, as wisdom is screaming at the top of her lungs for us to pay attention to her guidance and warnings, but we never do.

Wake up. Today is the day of salvation. Tomorrow is promised to no man. Today is the day of following Christ and living for Him, standing up for righteousness, and telling someone about His goodness. Today is all we have; tomorrow may never come. We need to live each day as if it’s our last so that when we stand before the throne of grace, we will have no regrets.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Heed Wisdom.

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Prepare Yourselves

18 The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth. ~ Revelation 11:18

The Bible seems to indicate that God believes that His earth is being deliberately destroyed, and He will deal with those who are destroying it. The Scripture said that the time had come for God to destroy the destroyers of the earth. What does that mean, except that there is a time and a season for everything under heaven, and their time, the destroyers of the earth, will come?

I believe that all that is happening is fulfillment of the signs of the times and speaks of the late season that we are living in. In other words, it is past the eleventh hour. It is, in fact, ticking to midnight. These happenings and these signs herald the Good News that Jesus is on His way—He is coming back real soon. We need to encourage ourselves with this.

See, 2,000 years ago, when Jesus walked this earth during His earthly ministry, He Himself promised that “I’ll be back.” That did not originate with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Jesus Himself said, “I will soon return.” He further stated that the one who endures until the end will be saved (Matthew 24:13).

Jesus is coming back to judge the living and the dead (2 Timothy 4:1), and we need to be ready for His return. Although there is chaos in the world, let not your heart be troubled. Yes, things are happening around us that are way out of our control. Events and phenomena are occurring that are perplexing. Sometimes, it seems like all hell has broken out against us.

But let not your heart be troubled. You might feel alone, but here is the truth. Yes, Jesus was taken up into heaven, but that same Jesus who was taken up into heaven in a cloud on the day of Ascension over 2,000 years ago will return in like manner to get us so that where He is, there we shall be also (Acts 1:10-11). Therefore, we must be the voice crying out, “Prepare yourselves, for the return of the LORD is at hand, and His judgments are with Him, to repay good with good and to repay evil with evil.”

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Prepare Yourselves.

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Dwell In Your God-Given Promise

2 Corinthians 11:14
[14] And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

Chapter 18 of 2 Kings tells of some of the events in King Hezekiah’s reign. More specifically, in the fourteenth year of his reign, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them (2 Kings 18:13).

But before that, he had taken Samaria, which was the capital of the Northern kingdom and dispersed the Israelites out of the land and into captivity.
Now, he has turned his greedy little eyes Southward with a strong desire to take Jerusalem. So, he sends his high-ranking officials up to Jerusalem, since he was now fighting in Lachish, with a message for the people of Judah.

Surrender to me, and I will spare your lives, was basically the message. He was trying to do was to intimidate both the people and the soldiers sitting on the wall.
He tried to intimidate them into surrendering by telling them that their lives would be spared, if they surrendered, in hopes that they would surrender without him having to fight another war.
He tells them to make peace with him. In other words, they were to surrender and sign a peace treaty with him. And then, Judah was to stay in the city and enjoy their food, and drink, and water until he came and took them to another place, just like their own homeland.

The enemy works the same way today. The entire land of Israel (including the kingdom of Judah) was the heritage, the promise of the Israelites. A land following with milk and honey. A land filled with all that they could ever need. A good land. King Sennacherib wanted to conquer them and remove them from that land, and take over the land permanently. He promised them another land like it so that they wouldn’t miss their God-promised land.

We all have a promised land from God. We all have a heritage and inheritance that God has promised us, but the enemy doesn’t want us dwelling in the promises of God. Why? Because when we are a problem for him. If we are dwelling on the promises of God, then we are building the Kingdom of God. So what does he do? He comes in not as a threatening enemy but as a smooth negotiator. Look, I’ll give you something of equal or greater value. All you have to do is make the deal with me.

So many take the backhanded deal, thinking that they are making a deal with a friend, not realizing that the enemy has just deceitfully transformed himself into an angel of light just so you could trust him. Don’t let the enemy fool you. Don’t give up your God-given promises for the temporary pleasures of the world. They won’t last, and they aren’t worth it.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Dwell In Your God-Given Promise.

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Make Sure They Know Who You Are

5 Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. ~ Matthew 10:5-8

Jesus had given His twelve disciples authority over demonic spirits; therefore, it would be safe to assume that they used their authority to cast out demons as well as heal the sick. The sons of Sceva were operating at this level of faith, but they did not know Jesus as LORD and Savior. Therefore, the demon said, “… Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” (Acts 19:15)

Demons recognize a child of God as they did in Acts 16:17 with Paul and his companions. They also readily recognized Jesus and ran up to Him and fell down at His feet proclaiming, “You are the Holy One of God (Luke 4:34).” Something that the religious leaders of the day struggled to do. They neither recognized Him as the Holy One of God, nor did they proclaim Him to be.

When you are a Christian, you are under the protection of Jesus Himself. Demonic spirits cannot jump on you and beat you senseless as they did to the seven sons of Sceva, the high priest. They recognize the spiritual mark that God places on us, His children, and they certainly did not see one on Sceva’s seven sons. That is why they were like, “Who are you?” The Seven Sons of Sceva didn’t have God’s mark on them, His shield of protection around them.

This is the importance of your relationship with Christ Jesus. Our power and authority are only found in Him. Without Him, we are nothing. That is what the sons of Sceva learned the hard way. The unclean spirit wasn’t asking who they were, as in he had no idea who they were, but in the sense of “who do you think you are?” “Who are you to me?” “Why should I obey you? Jesus, I know. Paul, I know. But you? Who are you to me?”

We are in a spiritual war. Each and every one of us. It may not be the same experience as the sons of Sceva, but it’s just as life and death, if not more. Each day we get up, we battle unclean spirits that desire to overtake us and make us a slave to them. Anger, hate, lust, sexual immorality, addiction, etc., all of these unclean spirits try to consume us and turn us into their slaves. The only way we can overcome, is through Christ Jesus. I want to ask you a very important question, “Does the Kingdom of Darkness know who you are?”

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Make Sure They Know Who You Are.

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Today Is That Day

1 Working together with Him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. ~ 2 Corinthians 6:1-2

Paul said that they, working together with Him, appeal to us. Working with whom? With the LORD God Almighty, that’s who. Paul made it clear that he was not working alone, but he was working with Almighty God to spread the Gospel of truth so that we might hear and believe and thus be saved. God is not willing for any of us to be lost. For God Himself said, “In a favorable time, I listened to you, and in a day of salvation, I have helped you.”

The greatest thing that anybody can do is to accept the salvation that is offered to him or her. For God Himself said that today is the day of salvation. You are not promised tomorrow. You are not even promised another five minutes. We are only promised the present, for once the clock ticks, that time is now in the past, and the next second is the future, and we are not promised it.

Therefore, it would behoove each one of us to make our election sure. It is essential for us to ensure that we are right with God. Why? Because there is coming a day when the LORD Jesus will come back to get all of those who love Him and are watching and waiting for His return. Those who love Him will be with Him forever and ever, but those whose name is not found in the Lamb’s Book of Life will be sent to the Lake of Fire, and there they will spend their eternity.

Maybe you have been saved for many years now, but your love for Jesus has waxed cold, or maybe lukewarm at best. You go through the motions, not realizing that you have drifted away from Him. Paul is appealing to you, do not receive the grace of God in vain. Do not let your love for Him grow limp, or your strength grow weary in doing good. But work hard for the LORD, do what He has called you to do, for you do not know the hour on which He will return.

So, remember, today is the day of salvation. Now is the time to get right with your God; you may not get another chance.

Father, I ask for Your forgiveness. I repent of my sins and renounce all of my transgressions. Help me to live my life for You and not be left behind. I understand that today is the day of salvation, now is the acceptable time. I want my life to reflect You, LORD Jesus, so help me. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Flow

13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the LORD Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. ~ Acts 19:13-16

The seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were not Christians; they were, in fact, followers of Judaism like their father, a Jewish high priest. Even though they weren’t following Christ, they saw the power of His name and began imitating Paul and successfully casting out unclean and evil spirits. How is this possible? Because when someone combines ο pistis (the faith) with the name of Jesus, evil and unclean spirits must evacuate their stronghold on that person or that particular place.

The problem here, however, with the sons of Sceva, was that they may have had the faith, but they didn’t have the authority. See, they did not know Jesus. They knew of Him. They knew of Paul. And they knew of the power of His name, but that was it. They had no relationship with Christ. The other problem was that they didn’t realize that some spirits are stronger than others. So, while they were successfully casting out weaker, unclean, and evil spirits when they faced a stronger spirit, they couldn’t cast out the spirit because they didn’t have the authority.

See, faith can only take you so far. Faith is the foundation, but you can’t live on just a foundation, you need walls and a roof as well in order to keep you safe and secure from the elements. Therefore, you also need a relationship with Christ, which leads to spiritual authority and covering. If you live on just the initial faith that gets you salvation, you’ll never grow. If you don’t grow, you’ll be stagnant. If you’re stagnant, you’re doing nothing with the faith given to you, and you’ll be cut off. Why? Because every branch that does not produce good fruit is cut off from the vine.

Therefore, keep growing. Build on your faith. Build on your relationship with God. Don’t remain stagnant, but instead be like a stream of flowing water. The more you grow in your relationship with Christ Jesus, the more your faith will grow. The more your faith will grow, the more your authority and protection in Christ will grow. These are all intertwined in one another and can’t truly be separated. Therefore, grow each one so that you may be able to stand strong against any spiritual attack by the enemy.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Flow.

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Seek Only The Truth

22 How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? ~ Proverbs 1:22

While Wisdom screams at the top of her lungs, those who are spiritually asleep will never hear her call. Wisdom calls out to each of us. She gives each and every one of us the opportunity to know and understand the Truth. To see through the lies, deceit, and trickery of the enemy, but if we have closed our ears to righteousness, calloused our hearts, and sewn our eyes shut, then we will never hear her call.

I’ve read many different stories of people who converted to Christianity from Islam, Buddhism, and Atheism. Even though each of these belief systems is vastly different, each one of these conversion stories has one key thing in common, they’re looking for the Truth, regardless of what the Truth is. Jesus promised that if we seek, we will find, and if we knock, the door will be opened to us. Each of these people did exactly that. They sought out the Truth, not the truth of their own beliefs, but The Truth. When they sought, Wisdom began to call to them, and their eyes began to open to The Truth.

Therefore, we can understand that there is none as blind as those who refuse to see. Even when the evidence stares them dead in the face, they still refuse to see or even take a look. This is because they have spiritually killed themselves, taking away the very opportunity to hear Wisdom’s call.

If we want to truly hear from God and grow in our walk with Him. We have to seek His Truth. Not our truth, not the truth of the world, not the truth of church tradition, not the truth of our ancestors, not the truth of society, not the truth of culture, but The Truth of God. Only The Truth of God is trustworthy and perfect without flaw or corruption. Why? Because His very nature is good, perfect, love, and light.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek Only The Truth.

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Good Desires Are Not Always God Desires

8 However, the LORD said to my father David, “Since it was your desire to build a temple for my Name, you have done well to have this desire. 9 Yet, you are not the one to build the temple, but your son, your own offspring, will build the temple for my Name” CSB ~ 2 Chronicles 6:8-9

Solomon is referring to 2 Samuel chapter 7, where it states that after David had built himself a fine palace made out of cedar and God had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, he considered where he was living and where the Ark of God dwelt. The Ark was actually in a tent, while David lived in a fine house. He was convicted of it because David loved the LORD.

So, David calls Nathan the prophet and explains what he was thinking. Basically, he wanted to build the Temple of God. Nathan hears and thinks to himself this is a noble desire and to be sure it is a noble desire. So, Nathan the prophet said to David the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you” (2 Samuel 7:3). But that night, the Word of the LORD came to the prophet Nathan and basically said that it was not David’s job or assignment to build Him a house, or the Temple of God. He had too much blood on his hands, so God would raise up his son, Solomon, to build the Temple.

Here is the moral of the story. Good desires are not always God’s desires. No matter how noble the cause, or how Godly the outcome, a good desire is not always a God desire. Meaning that what was in David’s heart was indeed noble and Godly, but it was not placed there by God because God had reserved that job for someone else, namely, David’s son Solomon.

So, God told Nathan to go back to David and tell him that he did well to want to build the temple, but you are not the one to do it. Instead, here is what I will do for you. I will build you a lasting house, a dynasty that will last forever. The Promised Messiah will come through your lineage, and through Him, your throne, O David, will be established forever.

Here is the takeaway. If David had persisted on doing that good thing even though it was noble and righteous, he would have been out of God’s will, and therefore, he would be in blatant rebellion against God. Therefore, whatever we do, no matter how noble or how God-focused it may seem, take it to God in prayer. You may not be the one called to do that particular thing. God may have someone else slated for that job. The bottom line is, whatever you do, first, season it with prayer. Talk to God about it.

Heavenly Father, please help me to know Your good and perfect will. May I always remember to take my plans to You in prayer that I may be sure that I am in Your good and perfect will. Thank You that I can be a part of what You are doing in the Earth, and that You have chosen me as part of it. Help me to know my part and not falter nor fail in what You have called me to do; in Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Battle To Victory

2 Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “Go up and spy out the land.” And the men went up and spied out Ai. 3 And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not have all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are few.” 4 So about three thousand men went up there from the people. And they fled before the men of Ai, 5 and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them at the descent. And the hearts of the people melted and became as water. ~ Joshua 7:2-5

The battle of AI is one that must be fought, sometimes every day. It is the first one after Jericho that we must win if we are to succeed in our spiritual walk. If we want to collect the spoils, we must defeat AI.

What is AI? AI is a type of spiritual battle that we will all have to fight on one level or another. The battle of AI is “A” Adultery and “I” Idolatry, which is Spiritual Adultery.

Some may say, “I don’t have a problem with Adultery,” but I want you to understand that when you make something an idol, be it your career, money, video games, social media, or even family. Anything that takes the place of God is an idol, and it is spiritual adultery. Do not deceive yourself into thinking that since you are saved, you have no more problems with such things.

The truth is, when you are saved, that is when the enemy attacks you even more so that he can conquer you and win you back. His desire is to destroy you spiritually. Therefore, be on guard. Don’t allow the enemy to defeat you in the battle of AI. Stand strong in the LORD and His might. Flee sexual immorality and stand strong against idolatry by staying in the Word of God and meditating on it daily.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Battle To Victory.

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Defeat The Three

47 And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. 48 But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more. ~ Luke 12:47-48

Jesus said that the servant who knew his master’s will but refused to get ready or refused to act appropriately as per His master’s will would receive a severe beating. And that’s why you need to build your relationship with Him. It is not just what you know or who you know but what you have done with what you know.

There are three things that will keep you from operating in the supernatural, because they block the intimacy. The word intimacy speaks of closeness, familiarity, and great affection. Intimacy builds the confidence to be vulnerable, honest, and open. It expects a mutual commitment to the relationship free of secrets and free of deceit.

The three main blockers of spiritual intimacy with Christ are lack of prayer, lack of faith/trust, and division. Without prayer, we cannot grow close to God. Prayer is how we communicate with our LORD; if we remove prayer from our lives, we no longer have communication with God and, therefore, do not have a relationship with Him, period. Faith/trust is the foundation of our salvation. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Without faith, it is impossible to be saved.

Therefore, faithlessness severs the connection between man and God. Lastly, division is the opposite of unity. Jesus made it very clear that united we stand, but divided we fall. If we are not united with Christ, then we are divided from Him. In other words, if we separate ourselves from the things of God and cling to the things of the world, then we will never be one with God. We will always be separated from Him. And if we choose separation from Him in this life, we will be separated from Him in eternity as well.

Each of these three blockers are intertwined with each other. Each needs the other in order to grow spiritually. You can’t have one without the other. All three are needed in order to grow spiritually in the LORD. Once you grow spiritually in Him, you will begin to see Him move in your life. His Holy Spirit will guide you and break down strongholds in your life in the name of Jesus. The spiritual war you are in will no longer be one-sided; with Christ, the victory is yours.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Defeat The Three.

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